Improvement in explosive projectiles



llivirrno rares A'rnNr Prien..

(Lil-IAS. `\V. ISBELL, OF NEV YORK, N. hf., ASSIGNOR TO I-IIMSELF, AND EDVIN S. ELY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN EXPLOSIVE PROJECTILES.

Specification forming 1mi-t ci' Letters Patent N0. 35,277, dated May 13, W62..

To all who/1t t 71mg/ conce/vt:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. Isnnm., of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Explosive Projectiles; and I do hereby dcclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which- Figure l is a central section of an elongated projectile with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of the projectile, illustrating a modiiication of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two iigures.

This invention relates to explosive projectiles of elongated form to be exploded by the act of striking. Its principal oloject is to so supply a percussion apparatus in such a projectile as to enable it to be made solid at the point or end which strikes, and another object is to enable the projectile to be transported ready primed without danger.

It consists in the attachment of the hammer of the percussion apparatus to the rear portion or breech of the proj ectile by a device which holds it back until the discharge of the projectile from the gun; also, in so constructing and applying the said device for attaching the hammer to the rear portion or breech of the shell that it may be caused to liberate the hammer by the driving forward of the rear portion of the projectile relatively to the front portion thereof by the act of discharging the projectile from the gun, the hammer, when so liberated, being held back by inertia until the projectile strikes, when its momentum carries it forward and causes it to explode the percussion priming.

l To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its 'construction and operation.

A is the hollow body of the projectile, having its rear portion fitted with a conical ring, B, of cast or wrought iron, which is to receive upon it apacking-ring of soft metal orother suitable substance, and with a cap or follower, C, to be driven forward against the said ring B, for the purpose of producing the expansion of the packing-ring by the force developed in the explosion of the charge of the gun by which the projectile is discharged. This cap may be attached tothe projectile in any suitable manner, as by means of two or more lugs, a,

on the rear of the body, and a groove, l), in the interior of the cap, the part of the interior of thc cap that is in front of the :said groove having grooves cut across it transverse to b, to allow the lugs to pass into b. By turning the cap a little way after the lugs have entered I), it is prevented from dropping ot't. The body is charged through openings g g in its rear, and the said openings are plugged up before the cap is put on.

In the center of the hollow body A thereis provided for the reception of the percussionhammer D and cap-nipple c a tube, d, which may be cast with the body itself, said tube being attached to the rear end of the body, and being open at the rear, but closed in front, with the exception of its havingaventthrough the nipple e, which projects rearward into the interior of the tube. rlhe hammer D :is of plunger-like construction, but Jfitted loosely to the tube d, and it has around its rear end a shoulder, f, infront of which it is made conical, as shown at 71,.

In Fig. l the device for holding back the hammer is shown attached to the bodyA; but in Fig. 2 it is shown attached tothe cap. The device shown in Fig. l consists of two small springs, i 1'., of sheet brass or iron or other tough and not too flexible metal, attached to the rear of the body, on opposite sides of the tube, by screws 7' j and projecting over the edges of the mouth of the tube into the notch formed in the hammer in front of the shoulder j'. In connection with this device I employ a central annular projection, 7c, on the interior of the cap, the exterior of the said projection beingsmaller than the interior of the tube d, and the interior of the said projection being larger than the exterior of the shoulder f of thehammer. Vhcn the force of the explosion of the charge of powder in the gun acts upon the cap G and drives it forward on the body A, this projection la presses forward the strips t' t' into the tube d, in the manner represented in red outline in Fig. l, and so presses them aside far enough to allow the shoulder j' of the hammer to pass them, and thus allow the hammer, to move forward in the tube. The hamnier, however, does not move forward therein untill the projectile strikes and is arrested or greatly retarded in its flight, when the hanil 'sheet brass or iron, attached to the cap C and -hooking` over the shoulder fr XV hen the cap G is driven forward by the explosion of the VVchargeofV the'gun, it driyesthepo'ints of the jaws forward on the conical portion li of the hammer, and so causes the said jaws to be opened wide enough to let the shoulder f pass through or between them when the projectile strikes.

The operation of the hammer is the same as before described.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure byLetters Patent, .is-

l. The attachment of the hainnier of the percussion apparatus to the rear portion or breech of the projectile, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

2. So constructing,` and applying the device for attaching and holding` back the hammer -within the projectile that it is caused toliber ate the hannner by the driving forward of the rear portion of the projectile relatively to the front portion thereof bythe actrof dischargingA the p'rojectile'froin the gun', substantially as herein specified.

CHAS. NV. ISBELLY,

\Viinesses: Q

R. GAMBY, A EDwD. V. HoDGsoN. 

